I'll tell 8yr old Daniel this, he set about making his own as soon as he saw them at the Bodgers Ball. He had a bit of trouble with making the propeller balance but he did get it working. He was very pleased to win ten pounds for his walking stick entry to the junior class.
I was pleased that after 12 years I was on the team that came 3rd in the team log to leg race - even though I had to let David step in and finish my turning as my hay fever struck right in the middle of turning. So well done Olvin and David for getting 3rd in spite of the handicap of having a useless old bodger on the team.

What a great weeekend! 270 people turned up, the beer was cheap, local and fine, the music and dancing, the Indain curry meal and of course all the demonstrations and competitions made it the best AGM ever.

There's no real history of whimmy diddles in Britain - I did once speak to a guy who remembered them from growing up in Cornwall where they called it a 'yewie stick'.

I first found out about them from Roy Underhill's book "The Woodwright's Companion." I don't feel happy going Gee and Haw to get them to turn in opposite directions - I just tell folk that you have to think very pure thoughts to get them to go the other way !

Nobody can really explain how they work although I did hear the phrase 'vibrational damping' used recently. One interesting thing Roy says is that "the pre-Columbian Mexican Indians used the wheel but only on childrens toys - maybe some future generation will observe that we only used the whimmy diddle as a toy and never unleashed the awesome power contained within it" !